Yeah - for $6k, that's a tough bite.
Landscapers around here don't seem like they'd be that high, the average "Lawn and Landscape" company in these parts just doesn't look like they would charge that much. I don't know, but I'm sure it's a case of you get what you pay for.
Since you've done it before, you know what you are getting into. There are some topsoil delivery companies here that use some tractor/bucket things so you can get just as much as you need without ordering a whole or half truckload. They pull a truck up to your house, drive a tracked remote controlled dump bin up to a chute, load it up, drive the bin to wherever you need it, then tip the dirt out. You pay for the delivery and however many dump loads you get. It's pretty cool and simple for filling in low spots where you don't need too many CF and don't want to wheelbarrow it all into place.
Is there much difference in the price different types of sod? In the KC area it's either going to be bluegrass or fescue.
I would gladly pay someone $1000 or so to till the area that needs to be done. I'm a little leery of handing the entire job over to someone, I'm at work all day and can't watch what they're doing, and I've seen some of them do some unexplicably odd things.
We are in a transition zone, there are both cool weather and warm weather grasses here. The only type of cool weather grass that does well is tall fescue, and you can find sod in that variety. It does best in filtered sun, like on the periphery of an area with mature trees. It needs to be overseeded each fall as it suffers in the summer, but it's green year round. If you have a sunny area, you're better off with one of the warm weather grasses, either Bermuda or Zoysia. There are lots of varieties of each, If you can find it, I suspect you could get common bermuda for as little as $125 per pallet, which is around 500 sq feet in this area. Hybrid Bermuda is somewhere around $180 - $250, and the Zoysias can go to $300 or more per pallet, plus delivery and if you want it, installation. We had common Bermuda in the front, and had sodded hybrid Bermuda in our back yard. Hybrid Bermuda does great in full sun provided it gets enough water and fertilizer, but won't look its best unless you mow it every five days. My neighbor had a fine bladed Zoysia put in about 10 years ago, and it looks great. It's a little slower growing as well, so you don't need to cut it quite as often, so that's what we're going with.
Sunbelt Rentals. 3 locations around Atlanta. Have them configure/deliver a skid loader with a hydraulic tiller. Done.
If I can't find anyone to do this job, I'll look at this option. Tilling the yard in 20 inch wide swaths is going to be a tough grind
I just tore up about 200 sq ft of space in my back yard with my TroyBilt Bronco (small) tiller and it nearly beat me to death. That was definitely not the machine for the job, but even with a larger tiller, 4,000 sq ft is going to be a task and a half. No matter what kind of equipment you use, you're probably going to want to go over it twice - once to break the old sod up and again to help level things back out and bust up some of the clods from the first run.
If you have time, you may want to spray round-up on the existing sod and let it sit for a couple of weeks before tilling. Makes it easier to bust up any existing root structure underneath.
And yes - this GA clay is tough stuff! (I'm in Newnan area)
I just realized that one of my coworkers has a husband who does something landscape related, and she's going to see if he can find someone who can get this done for me. One of the local sod contractors uses 3000 square feet as the switchover point, below that, they do the yard by hand, above it, they use a skid steer loader and tiller. I have sprayed roundup on the remaining grass/weeds, it should all be dead by the time the tilling gets done. It's probably a couple of weeks down the road, the tree service has to get rid of the remains of the Bradford Pear first. I'm sure there's someone in one of the outlying towns who does this kind of work reasonably, I just have to find him.
